Maniple holder



Aug. 21, 1962 B. LIUBAUSKAS MANIPLE HOLDER Filed Feb. 28, 1961 INVENTOR Boles Liubuuskos United States Patent Ofifice 3,M9,773 Patented Aug. 21, 1962 3,049,773 MANIPLE HQLDER Boles Liubauskas, 15 South Ave., Du Bois, Pa. Filed Feb. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 92,202 6 Claims. (Cl. 24-85) This invention relates to a maniple holder for holding or fastening a maniple to a priests vestment. A maniple is a band of cloth carried suspended from the left arm by the priest in the celebration of Mass. Heretofore it has been customary for the priest to fasten the maniple to the sleeve of 'his vestment by a pin. The pinning and unpinning of the maniple is an undesirable and timeconsuming chore involving substantial danger of pricking the flesh since the pin must be manipulated by the right hand only inasmuch as the maniple is carried over the left arm, rendering the left hand unusable for attaching and detaching the maniple.

I have invented a maniple holder which may have a maniple attached thereto in advance and which can be very easily manipulated by the right hand only to attach the maniple to the left sleeve of the vestment. Also my maniple holder is preferably constituted so that the maniple may be easily and quickly separated from the vestment by simply pulling the maniple away without the necessity of any manipulation.

I provide a maniple holder comprising a body having means for attaching a maniple thereto and a projection adapted to extend beyond the edge of a maniple atttached to the body, opposed gripping members carried by the projection and means resiliently urging the gripping members toward each other to grip a portion of a priests garment to fasten the maniple to the garment. The opposed gripping members preferably have smooth cooperating gripping portions so that the maniple can be easily and quickly separated from the garment by simply pulling the maniple away so that the gripping portions of the gripping members are drawn off of the garment without separating the gripping portions of the gripping members. In a preferred structure the opposed gripping members have thin smooth cooperating gripping portions having very limited cooperating gripping areas, facilitating separation of the maniple from the garment or vestment. More specifically I preferably make the gripping portions of the gripping members smoothly rounded so that the gripping portions have very limited cooperating gripping areas and so that when the maniple is pulled away from the vestment the holder will not catch or hang up in the material of the vestment.

The body of my maniple holder may have opposed projecting fingers and the opposed gripping members may each have a slot therein, the respective opposed projecting fingers of the body entering the respective slots of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body. Means are provided resiliently acting on the gripping members to urge the gripping portions thereof toward each other and preferably to at the same time maintain the gripping members assembled to the body.

The body of my maniple holder may have an opening between the fingers and the resiliently acting means may be in the form of a spring having a central coil disposed in that opening and portions projecting therefrom acting on the gripping members to urge the gripping portions thereof toward each other. The projecting portions of the spring may pass through the gripping members and may have their extremities bent to bear against the gripping members whereby to urge the gripping portions of the gripping members toward each other While maintaining the' gripping members assembled to the body.

Other details, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description of a present preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a present preferred embodiment of the invention in which FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a maniple holder, a fragment of a maniple held thereby being indicated by chain lines;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the maniple holder shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the maniple holder shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 as viewed from the left in both of those figures;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing the gripping members separated or in non-gripping relationship; and

FIGURE 5 is an exploded isometric view showing the elements of the maniple holder.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the maniple holder comprises a body designated generally by reference numeral 2. The body is of ornamental shape and has three prongs 3 struck downwardly from it as clearly shown in FIGURE 5. The prongs 3 are adapted to penetrate a maniple and be bent laterally at the rear face of the maniple to attach the maniple to the body. I show a backing plate 4 which I prefer to use in connection with the body 2 but which may be dispensed with. The backing plate 4 has three slots 5 therethrough positioned in the same arrangement as the prongs 3 of the body 2. When the backing plate 4- is used it is positioned behind the maniple and the prongs 3 penetrate the maniple and also pass through the slots 5 of the backing plate 4 after which they are bent outwardly so that the body, maniple and backing plate form a unit. The maniple is indicated by chain lines and designated by the letter M.

Thus the maniple holder is initially attached to the maniple. The maniple holder is provided with means to grip a portion of a priests garment or vestment to hold the maniple thereto and which may be easily and quickly separated from the garment. The body 2 has as :an integral portion thereof a projection 6 adapted, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, to extend beyond the edge of the maniple M to which the body 2 is attached. The projection 6 has opposed projecting fingers 7 as clearly shown in FIGURE 5. I provide opposed gripping members 8 each provided with a slot 9, the slot being slightly enlarged downwardly at its center at 10, each of the gripping members 8 also having achannel-like depression 17 formed therein at the face thereof remote from the other gripping member and extending downwardly from the center of the slot. At its lower extremity each of the gripping members 8 has a smooth gripping portion 11 bent somewhat toward the body '2 or toward the other gripping member, each such gripping portion being thin and smoothly rounded as shown so that the gripping portions of the gripping members have very limited cooperating gripping areas; in fact, the cooperating gripping areas approach a point since the gripping portions are curved as shown.

The respective fingers 7 enter the respective slots 9 of the gripping members 8 as shown whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body 2 of the maniple holder. The projection 6 has therethrough an opening 12 between the fingers 7. I provide a spring 13 having a central coil 14 adapted when the parts are assembled to be disposed in the opening 12 and having portions 15 projecting therefrom below the projection 6 and passing through the respective gripping members at 10 with their extremities 16 bent to bear against the gripping members and lying in the channel-like depressions 17. Thus the spring 13 performs the dual function of maintaining the gripping members 8 assembled to the body 2 and urging the gripping portions 11 of the gripping members 8 toward each other to grip a portion of the priests garment or vestment to hold the maniple thereto.

My maniple holder may be easily and quickly manipulated with one hand. The upper ends of the gripping members 8 viewing FIGURES 2 and 4 may be gripped between the thumb and index finger and pressed toward each other from the position of FIGURE 2 to the position of FIGURE 4 in which the gripping portions 11 are separated, such movement of the gripping members being accompanied by somewhat downward movement of the spring as shown, although the central coil 14 of the spring is always disposed in the opening 12. With the gripping members held in the position of FIGURE 4 the holder with the attached maniple is applied by the right hand to the left sleeve of the vestment; the gripping portions 11 of the gripping members are pressed against the material of the sleeve whereupon the gripping members are released, the spring moving the gripping portions of the gripping members together toward the position of FIG- URE 2 and gripping a small fold of the material of the sleeve between them, thus attaching the maniple to the vestment.

When the maniple is to be removed it may be simply pulled away without separating or manipulating or even touching the gripping members. By reason of the very limited cooperating gripping areas of the gripping members the force required to pull the marriple holder mi of the fold of material of the garment is quite small and the rounded shape of the gripping portions of the gripping members insures that they can be separated from the garment without catching or hanging up in the material of the garment. Thus I provide for very easy and efiicient application and removal of a maniple whereby the use of pins as heretofore employed is completely obviated.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A maniple holder comprising a body having a primary portion having means for attaching a maniple thereto, the body also having a secondary portion ofiset from the primary portion having opposed projecting fingers projecting in generally opposite directions, opposed gripping members each having a slot therein and each having a gripping portion, one of the opposed projecting fingers entering the slot of one of the opposed gripping members i and the other of the opposed projecting fingers entering the slot of the other of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body, and means resiliently acting on the gripping members to urge the gripping portions thereof toward each other to grip a portion of a priests garment to fasten the maniple to the garment, the ofiset relationship between the primary and secondary portions of the body providing for the gripping members to be disposed outside the edge of the maniple whereby to facilitate manipulation of the gripping members.

2. A maniple holder comprising a body having opposed projecting fingers projecting in generally opposite directions and having an opening between the fingers, opposed gripping members each having an elongated transverse slot therein disposed generally centrally thereof and each having a gripping portion, one of the opposed projecting fingers entering the slot of one of the opposed gripping members and the other of the opposed projecting fingers entering the slot of the other of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body for generally pivotal movement about the respective elongated transverse slots, and a spring having a central coil disposed in said opening and portions projecting therefrom acting on the gripping members to urge the gripping portions thereof toward each other.

3. A maniple holder comprising a body having opposed projecting fingers, opposed gripping members each having a slot therein and each having a gripping portion, the respective opposed projecting fingers entering the respective slots of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body, and a spring having a central coil and portions projecting therefrom in generally opposite directions and each passing through one of the gripping members with their extremities bent to bear against the outsides of the gripping portions of the gripping members whereby to urge the gripping portions of the gripping members toward each other and maintain the gripping members assembled to the body.

4. A maniple holder comprising a body having opposed projecting fingers and having an opening between the fingers, opposed gripping members each having a slot therein and each having a gripping portion, the respective opposed projecting fingers entering the respective slots of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body, and a spring having a central coil disposed in said opening and portions projecting therefrom and passing through the gripping members with their extremities bent to bear against the gripping members whereby to urge the gripping portions of the gripping members toward each other and maintain the gripping members assembled to the body.

5. A maniple holder as claimed in claim 4 in which the gripping portions of the opposed gripping members are smoothly rounded so that such gripping portions have very limited cooperating gripping areas.

6. A m-aniple holder comprising a body having means for attaching a maniple thereto and a projection adapted to extend beyond the edge of a maniple attached to the body, said projection having opposed projecting fingers and having an opening between the fingers, opposed gripping members each having a slot therein and each having a gripping portion, the respective opposed projecting fingers entering the respective slots of the opposed gripping members whereby the gripping members are mounted on the body, and a spring having a central coil disposed in said opening and portions projecting therefrom and passing through the gripping members with their extremities bent to bear against the gripping members whereby to urge the gripping portions of the gripping members toward each other to grip a portion of a priests garment to hold the maniple to the garment while maintaining the gripping members assembled to the body, the gripping portions of the opposed gripping members being thin, smooth and rounded so that such gripping portions have very limited cooperating gripping areas whereby the maniple can be easily and quickly separated from the garment by simply pulling the maniple away so that the gripping portions of the gripping members are drawn oif of the garment without separating the gripping portions of the gripping members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 260,160 Burns June 27, 1882 309,258 Shelby Dec. 16, 1884 563,566 Clarkson July 7, 1896 952,419 Dahlund Mar. 15, 1910 1,426,495 Norman Aug. 22, 1922 1,871,719 Meader Aug. 16, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS 484,994 France Sept. 4, 1917 332,882 Germany Feb. 12., 1921 263,689 Great Britain Jan. 6, 1927 540,505 Italy Mar. 10, 1956 

